Yselkla Farmer, CEO of BEAMA, the trade organisation for manufacturers and providers of energy infrastructure technologies and systems, comments on the publication of the Warm Homes Plan:
“Today’s publication of the Warm Homes Plan provides long-awaited clarity on the UK Government’s vision for clean heat, with a welcome £15 billion investment in rooftop solar generation and a range of low carbon heating technologies. The Plan sends a strong and clear signal that the future of UK clean heat is electric.
"BEAMA strongly welcomes this progress, while urging the Government to go further. Our industry’s priority has always been to work in collaboration with the UK Government to deliver our shared ambition to boost increase consumer choice for low carbon heating solutions; maximise energy system flexibility; and prioritise whole systems thinking linking electrification of heat and transport with targeted investments in smarter energy network infrastructure. Only through aligning all related policies can Government deliver the ambition of the Clean Growth Plan, Industrial Strategy and our focused work on Sector Growth.
"The Warm Homes Plan makes strong steps towards these shared goals, but needs to be supported within the next six months by other associated policies – including SSES, Future Homes Standard, Energy Performance Certificate reforms, and additional incentives for a wider range of low carbon heating technologies through the Home Energy Model – to build upon and successfully implement the policy framework outlined within today’s Warm Homes Plan. ONS data estimates over 14.8 million (52%) of UK homes have an energy efficiency rating of band D or below. By aligning all of these policies, the UK has the opportunity to implement one of the most ambitious and comprehensive heat decarbonisation approaches in the world. And only by addressing the above and tying together all policy strands will we unlock investment and growth.
"Echoing the observations of ESNZ select committee chair Bill Esterson MP, we urge the UK Government to go further to address the ‘spark gap’. Reducing the cost of electricity is the strongest market signal the UK Government can send to encourage consumers to go green by electrifying heat. As the UK continues to make progress building low cost, renewable electricity generation, we will be working with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to explore additional policy options to reduce electricity bills for households across the country.
"Additionally, we would urge caution around promoting the benefits of summer cooling using air-to-air heat pumps, as this risks a double penalty to household energy bills whilst removing opportunities to benefit from flexible tariffs, reduced bills and comfort for many homes.
"We also welcome a more regional dimension, mirroring an approach BEAMA has championed for nearly ten years. Similarly we have made the case for independent advice for households coupled with quality installations, so the introduction of a Warm Homes Agency is long overdue and will pick up the gap created when the national Energy Efficiency Advice Centre network was dismantled over a decade ago. It is critical to avoid mis-selling and also ensure homes are not only well insulated and heated but also ventilated appropriately to prevent damp and mould issues.
"Finally, it is critical that the measures in this Plan and others to come this year are repeatedly publicised far and wide, forming a national mission to improve our housing stock. This would give confidence to industry and investors of the Government’s commitment, and ensure householders access the benefits on offer.
"Overall, BEAMA supports the UK Government renewed ambition with the Warm Homes Plan, but urge them to go further with bold implementation driving transformative change. This will deliver a win-win-win for the UK accelerating decarbonisation of the UK economy; supercharging industrial growth; and drive down household bills for UK consumers.”
Notes to editors
BEAMA tracks the health of our industry and publishes a quarterly Market Pulse, a statistics series and accompanying commentary accessible to all.
BEAMA are strong advocates for customer choice and we are still digesting the details of the Plan and likely support from other incentives including social housing fund.
The Warm Homes Plan will need further work to reassure industry and clarify for consumers the package of technology measures supported under Government schemes and who is likely to benefit and when. This is an important point of clarification needed particularly to confirm ongoing support for storage heaters. This could include further work on property archetypes and suitable technologies, which has only partially been done in the current Alternative Clean Heating consultation. BEAMA set out applications for a range of technologies in its paper ‘What Should I do?’ in 2025. There is further work to be done in expanding the MCS scheme for thermal energy storage systems, to include other measures as covered by the Alternative Heat Consultation, which BEAMA is actively responding to.
Mass market electrification of heat will require improvements to the electricity network. BEAMA represents the electricity networks supply chain, and is working with ENA and Government on an Electricity Networks Sector Growth Plan. This Growth Plan aims to provide new analysis on the impact of grid investment and create a joint, long term work programme to ensure UK businesses and communities can fully benefit from both the wider transition and specific impacts, including new jobs and supply chain opportunities.